FWL Bowl IX

Montreal Machine 27 Barcelona Dragons 21

Barcelona        7  7  0  7 -- 21
Montreal         0 10 17  0 -- 27

First Quarter
Barcelona - Dukes 15 run (Angoy kick), 5:26

Second Quarter
Montreal - Welch 5 run (Cortez kick), 0:48
Barcelona - Dukes 36 run (Angoy kick), 4:22
Montreal - Cortez 27 FG, 14:32

Third Quarter
Montreal - Phillips 24 pass from Wuerffel (Cortez kick), 2:35
Montreal - McCullough 45 pass from Wuerffel (Cortez kick), 8:09
Montreal - Cortez 50 FG, 10:53

Fourth Quarter
Barcelona - Benton 12 pass from Kitna (Angoy kick), 13:52

Four seasons ago the Montreal Machine became the first team in FWL history to go winless losing all 14 of their games to finish 0-14. Onboard came David Harwood who quickly made the first great move in changing the teams fortunes by drafting QB Danny Wuerrfel. The following season Montreal won 5 games and finished 5-9, then the next two seasons Harwood had the team backto the playoffs with a 9-5 record in each season. Finally this season Montreal finished as the leagues best team and won all of their playoff games to advance to the FWL Bowl, at home in front of a packed stadium Montreal won FWL Bowl IX 27-21 over the Barcelona Dragons.

Harwood had a fantastic season and was named GM of the Year. FWL Player of the Year was QB Danny Wuerrfel who was the leading passer in the league. There was no standouts in FWL Bowl IX, many solid performances, Lawrence Phillips scored a td on a great catch and had over 100 yards rushing and receiving combined, on the losing side HB Chad Dukes had over 100 yards combined but in the end the panel of judges awarded the MVP to Danny Wuerrfel who had nearly 300 yards, 2 touchdowns and who was the main reason why the Montreal Machine were FWL champions this year.

It wasnt easy though, Barcelona who were the top team in the EFC intercepted Wuerrfel early on and on the next play Chad Dukes ran through a huge hole to score the first points of FWL Bowl IX. WIth the XP the Dragons led 7-0. Montreal went 3 and out again and the Dragons drove downfield again but this time had to settle for a FG, the miss was huge as Barcelona could have gone ahead 10-0 but instead the 46 yard FG was wide.

Finally Montreal had their only good drive of the first half as they moved the ball 64 yards and Marvin Welch followed some great blocks to score from 5 yards out to tie up the game. However the Dragons were quick to reply, on their immediate drive Barcelona moved 73 yards in 6 plays, Chad Dukes again was the hero and rushed through another gaping hole for a 36 yard touchdown sprint. The Dragons led 14-7 and Chad Dukes was running wild over the Machine with 2 td's in the first half. There was no further scoring in the half until very late when Montreal kicked a FG with less than 30 seconds left. The halftime score was Barcelona 14 Montreal 10.

GM David Harwood had a firm talk with his team at halftime after his team had just 145 yards at halftime. The talk must have paid off, Montreal received the 2nd half kickoff and promptly moved 51 yards in just 5 plays, Lawrence Phillips caught a superb pass from Danny Wuerrfel in the endzone from 24 yards out to give Montreal the first lead of the game. The Dragons couldnt move the ball and went 3 and out, again Montreal were on fire this time moving 80 yards in just 7 plays, this time Andy McCullough who was fully fit caught a 45 yard touchdown bomb from Wuerrfel. The Machine were looking rampant and now led 24-14. Two plays later the Dragons fumbled the ball away, this time Montreal couldnt score a touchdown but K Jose Cortez nailed a 50 yard boot for 3 points and Montreal now led 27-14.

Up 27-14 it was still dangerous for Montreal as Jon Kitna was one of the best QB's in the game. Montreal had a nightmare 4Q offensively fumbling the ball an amazing 3 times, however Montreals great defense limited Barcelona to just 86 yards on 6 drives in the second half. Finally late in the game Barcelona moved 60 yards in 8 plays, Jon Kitna threw a pass to Magic Benton in the endzone to make the score 27-21. Barcelona tried the onside kick but Montreal recovered and managed to run out the clock.

Montreal finished the season 15-2 and had one of the greatest seasons in FWL history. Despite being in one of the toughest divisions in football (No team had a losing record in the AFC West) and having the tough Sacramento Surge also to play, Montreal were superb week in week out. David Harwood did a fine job with Montreal and he was talking about repeating immediately after the FWL Bowl. For Barcelona they still have a great nucleus of players and should be back in the playoffs next season for sure.

Congratulations to David Harwood and the Montreal Machine, winners of FWL Bowl IX !